GOD IS FOR US
A. Son Games
ILLUSTRATION:
In 490 B.C., a great battle between two WORLD EMPIRES, the PERSIANS and GREEKS (the Athenians), was fought in the ancient town of Marathon, some 22 miles from the city of Athens. The battle was FIERCE, but resulted in the DEFEAT of the PERSIANS.
A Greek messenger name Pheidippides ran from the BATTLEFIELD of Marathon to Athens with the news of the Athenian VICTORY. After entering the city he shouted, “REJOICE! WE CONQUER!” He then fell to the GROUND and DIED of EXHAUSTION.
In 1896 when the Olympic Games were REVIVED at Athens, the 26 mile 365 yard run designated
“MARATHON” was added to commemorate the COURAGEOUS run of Pheidippides.
B. The theme of this past week’s Vacation Bible School was Son Games.
1. The focus was on the Apostle Paul and how he was chosen by God to be the apostle to the Gentiles and to teach them about Jesus.
COMMENT:
The children learned how Paul was faced with many HARDSHIPS and TRIALS: His LIFE was THREATENED, he was PERSECUTED, BEATEN, STONED, IMPRISONED, SHIPWRECKED, and yet Paul was able to live VICTORIOUSLY in Christ.
2. What was Paul’s SECRET? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” - Romans 8:31.
COMMENT:
It was the KNOWLEDGE that God was on Paul’s side that kept him going, even during the TOUGH TIMES. The PROMISE of God being FOR US is not only for Paul or the first-century Christians, but for all of God’s CHILDREN for all time.
3. Romans 8:31-39 (READ)
ILLUSTRATION:
There is an old Roman legend of an EMPEROR returning from VICTORY with the spoils of war. He PARADED down the streets of Rome, and people gathered around to watch his TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION. As they chanted while he passed by, his soldiers lined the streets to PROTECT him from the OUTREACHED arms of the crowd.
During the PROCESSION, a little boy, the emperor’s son, jumped off the ROYAL PLATFORM and started running between all the people. Then he darted between a guard’s legs and sped toward the EMPEROR. The SOLIDER grabbed him by the NECK and said, “Boy, you can’t go up there! Don’t you know who that is? That’s the EMPEROR!”
The little boy turned around and said, “Mister, he may be your EMPEROR, but he’s my father.”
COMMENT:
God is certainly our LORD, our SOVEREIGN, our CREATOR; but He’s also our Father! As our Father, He LOVES us more than we can ever IMAGINE. Despite what DIFFICULTY we might face in this LIFE, God our Father never FORSAKES us—He’s always on OUR SIDE.
MESSAGE:
I. GOD IS FOR US
A. How does that make you feel?
ILLUSTRATION:
How many BASEBALL FANS do we have here? How many of you are Chicago Cubs Fans? How many are St. Louis Cardinal Fans? (YOU NEED TO REPENT!)
You may not know this about me, but I’m really not a very good ATHLETE. I know this comes as a SHOCK. My first summer as a young preacher in Bowie, Texas over 20 years ago, I played for the Carter Lake Road church SOFTBALL TEAM. That year there were close to 30 guys who wanted to PLAY ball, so two TEAMS were formed. There were the “A” team and the “B” team. The “A” team consisted of more EXPERIENCED players. So it was decided that some PLAYERS should move to BALANCE the TALENT on the two teams. It was UNANIMOUS that I stay with the “B” team.
I had never played SOFTBALL before. In fact, I had never played ORGANIZED BASEBALL before. The first time I was up to BAT, I was so NERVOUS that I STRUCK OUT. For the next three times I was up to BAT I STRUCK OUT. But maybe my NICHE wasn’t at BAT at all, but out in the FIELD.
I know that our Team Captain Gary Hachtel, whose NICKNAME is “HOMER” for obvious reasons, had a lot of FAITH in me because he put me in RIGHT FIELD—way out in RIGHT FIELD. In fact, I was so far out that I stood in the DARK—the field lights didn’t even shine that far. It was just me and the FIRE FLIES!
I stood out their for quite a few INNINGS and no one hit a ball in my DIRECTION. When a ball came close, one of my TEAM MEMBERS would run all the way from CENTER FIELD just to CATCH IT. I thought he was just being BROTHERLY. There was such CAMARADERIE on our TEAM that when a LEFT-HANDED BATTER came up to BAT the entire OUT-FIELD moved in toward my DIRECTION in RIGHT FIELD. I never saw that happen in professional
BASEBALL.
Finally, by ACCIDENT, a RIGHT HANDED BATTER hit a HIGH FLY BALL toward me. This was my chance to REDEEM myself. I ran out of the DARKNESS into the LIGHT with my GLOVE held high ready to CATCH the BALL. The ball began to DESCEND coming closer and closer. And when it was just INCHES away from my GLOVE, I . . .I; well, let’s just say that I can play RIGHT FIELD as well as I can BAT!
Talk about DISAPPOINTMENT! I thought I let the TEAM down. We LOST, and it was my fought. I slowly walked up to the PLAYERS’ BOX. The team captain,
“HOMER”, was standing there waiting for me. When I finally got up to him I said, “Gary, I really let the TEAM down. I think it’s best if I QUIT.” Gary said,
“Fred, don’t QUIT! We’re out here TOGETHER. We are a TEAM. We are FOR each other!”
COMMENT:
Doesn’t it make you feel good when someone says, “I am for you!”? You are FIRED from your JOB for some UNJUST reason and your fellow EMPLOYEES come to you and say, “That isn’t FAIR! We are going to STICK with you. We’re going to the BOSS and tell him what an INJUSTICE he’s done to you .”
Maybe someone speaks ILL of you, and a fellow Christian quickly takes up for you.
It could be that you are given a JOB PROMOTION with a better POSITION and more PAY, but it means uprooting your family and moving to another state. But your family comes to you and says, “Whatever you decide is fine with us. We are in this together.”
B. Paul said, “GOD IS FOR US!”
1. The SUPREME BEING, the CREATOR of this UNIVERSE, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is for YOU and ME—He’s on our SIDE!
COMMENT:
Now, I don’t know how that makes you feel, but it makes me feel rather SPECIAL. But it also HUMBLES me to think that ALMIGHTY God who just spoke this world in existence, is FOR somebody like me!
2. What is even more SPECIAL is that God is FOR me despite my WEAKNESSES, my FAULTS and FLAWS, the MISTAKES that I’ve made, and the SINS that I have committed.
COMMENT:
I am one of God’s children. It doesn’t matter if we can’t hit “HOME RUNS” in this life. God understands when we “STRIKE OUT” once in awhile, or when we “DROP the BALL.” He LOVES us anyway, and He’s still on our SIDE!
II. SINCE GOD IS FOR US, NOTHING CAN DEFEAT US
A. LIFE can be TOUGH.
1. Jesus, Himself said, “In this world you will have TROUBLE”- John 16:33.
a. You already KNOW that, don’t you?
b. If you are like most people, you’ve already had your SHARE of TROUBLES.
COMMENT:
Loss of a JOB, FINANCIAL difficulties, SICKNESS, PEOPLE PROBLEMS, FAMILY PROBLEMS, DIVORCE, DEATH of a LOVED ONE.
You’ve experienced one or more of these—we all have. But where the REAL PROBLEM lies is in who we BLAME for LIFE’S TROUBLES.
ILLUSTRATION:
When America was ATTACKED on 9/11, the plea from our PRESIDENT and from so many others was to PRAY that God be with our NATION during this TRYING TIME. One young lady being interviewed on the streets of New York City exclaimed, “PRAY! To whom?” She then added, “Either there is NO God, or He’s the one who CAUSED this!”
2. That is exactly what Satan wants us to BELIEVE.
COMMENT:
TROUBLES do not come from God they come from Satan, and it THRILLS him when people BLAME God for what he DOES.
Satan is out there trying to DESTROY us! He uses PEOPLE . . .he uses GOVERNMENTS . . .he uses TRAGEDY . . .He uses DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, all in an EFFORT to DEFEAT us.
3. Yet, Paul said, “With God on your side, there is absolutely nothing that Satan can do to DESTROY your RELATIONSHIP with our Heavenly Father.”
COMMENT:
After Jesus said to His disciples, “In this world you will have trouble,” He went on to say, “But take COURAGE, I have OVERCOME the WORLD.” (He paved way for our Victory!)
B. Paul presents FIVE TRUTHS about God being for us- vv. 31-39
1. Who shall OPPOSE us?
2. Who shall ACCUSE us?
3. Who shall CONDEMN us?
4. Who shall SEPARATE us?
5. Who shall CONQUER us?
COMMENT:
The answer is: ABSOLUTELY NO ONE or NO THING! Why? Because GOD IS FOR US!
I know that may be difficult for some to grasp. You may be looking at your life right now with all of its PROBLEMS and HEARTACHES and think, “No one is on my side.” You may look at your struggle with SIN and TEMPTATION and think, “There’s no way that God is for
me! Not after what I’ve done.”
It’s during your PROBLEMS and HEARTACHES. It’s during your STRUGGLES with SIN and TEMPTATION when you need God most. It’s then when God steps in and says, “I’m on your side. You can count on Me!”
2. Being CHRISTIANS—CHILDREN of God—we are BLESSED beyond IMAGINATION!
COMMENT:
The Christian who understands that will not allow Satan and the people and circumstances he uses to RIVAL or THREATEN their LOVE for God.
GOD IS SO GOOD! We can never repay Him for all that He has done for us—and He never asks us too. All we can do is to LOVE Him, SERVE Him, and OBEY Him. And be eternally grateful that HE IS ON OUR SIDE!
CONCLUSION:
A. God is our FATHER, and as our Father he never FORSAKES US—even when we MESS UP or just can’t LIVE UP to the HIGH STANDARDS of others. Our Heavenly Father never GIVES UP on us—He is always there HOLDING our HAND as we travel through LIFE, and then PICKS us up and CARRIES us when we are too TIRED and WEAK to go any farther.
ILLUSTRATION:
In closing I want to share with you a STORY about a Father named Dick Hoyt and his oldest son, Rick. When Rick was born in 1962 he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, which caused him to lose oxygen to his brain and become disabled. Rick’s parents, Dick and Judy , were told that their first-born son would be a “vegetable” and doctors advised them to put him into an institution. They refused. His parents were convinced that Rick deserved a chance to lead as normal a life as possible and they took him home.
Rick had two younger brothers to grow up with and his parents made every effort to give him the same opportunities that his brothers had. They struggled to have Rick admitted into a public school, having to “prove” his intelligence and ability to participate to administrators. Rick had learned to communicate using an alphabet system that his brother created whereby Rick would nod his head to select certain letters to spell out words. Rick also, at the age of 10, received a specialized computer that allowed him to click a button with his head to select letters and words. Rick’s slight head movements are the only movements that he is able to control.
When Rick was thirteen, a student in his community became paralyzed in a lacrosse accident and the school organized a five mile benefit run. Rick came home from school and told his dad he wanted to run in the event. Although Dick hadn’t run since high school, he agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. Dick said that while they were RUNNING, “Rick FLASHED the biggest SMILE you ever saw in your LIFE.” After the event, back at home, Rick spelled out on his computer, “Dad, I felt like I wasn’t HANDICAPPED.”
Since that first event, the Hoyts have continued to RUN and COMPETE. At first they ran 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons, and finally marathons. It was not until they had tried to enter several times that they were finally allowed to run in the Boston Marathon in 1981, and they have recently completed their 22nd Boston Marathon.
After several years of racing, the Hoyts were encouraged to enter triathlons and eventually, they began competing in Ironman Triathlons. For that event, competitors have to swim 2 1/2 miles through the ocean and then peddle a bicycle 112 miles before running a hilly, 26.2-mile marathon. In the triathlon swim, Rick lies on his back in a RUBBER RAFT attached by rope to a WETSUIT VEST worn by his father. In the bike portion, Rick sits in a chair attached to the front of Dick’s bike, and on the run, Dick pushes Rick in the RACE CHAIR. They ran their first Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii in 1998, and have COMPETED in five more since then. In their last TRIATHLON they completed the 140 mile event in 16 hours and 14 minutes.
Dick Hoyt, a retired Lieutenant Colonial from the Air National Guard is now 63 years old and Rick is 42, and they continue to COMPETE every chance they get.
NBC interviewed the Hoyts back in 1999. Rick was asked what else he would like to ACCOMPLISH in LIFE. Speaking with help from an electronic device, Rick expressed his thankfulness for his dad, and then said: “I wish I could be an athlete. But if I could have anything I wanted, I’d ask my dad to sit down for a while. Then I’d push him around.”
